Novella walked down the stairs and out in the kitchen. It was another early morning with most of the house asleep. To no surprise she found Seth there drinking coffee.

"Did you even go to bed last night?" She asked.
"I slept a couple of hours," he said.
"It's not healthy for you. You need to sleep," she said.

He got up and looked outside of the kitchen to see if anyone was near.

"No one's out there," she said.

He walked over to her and kept his voice low.

"I've made up my mind. I'm leaving tonight," he said.
"Alone?" She asked.
"No, I'm taking you with me if you want to," he said.
"Of course I want to," she said.
"You just trust me like that?" He asked.
"The way I see it, you're either being truthful and I'll get out of here, or you're lying and I'll die. Both options are better than staying. Staying means a slow death with torture and rape every single day. I've only been here a few weeks and I feel like I've aged 20 years. I'm tired, Seth. I just want peace one way or another," she said.

He nodded and looked over his shoulder. He knew the house would start waking up soon. They couldn't be caught planning to escape.

"I'm gonna drug them tonight," he said. "Most of us share a midnight drink. I'll make my special punch tonight. All the guys love it. They're gonna fall asleep and give us hours to escape. Only one problem though."
"What?" She asked.
"Roman is a moody bastard that often won't share a drink with us. You know he often goes upstairs early. You're always with him. If that happens, you gotta wait until he falls asleep and sneak downstairs. I'll wait for you with some clothes outside and then we're gonna run as far away as we can before anyone wakes up," he said.

She furrowed her brows at that final statement.

"What happened to burning the house down?" She asked.
"I can't fucking do it, alright?" His bottom lip quivered. "No matter how fucked up this place is, I still love everyone here. I can't kill them. This is my offer. We run and we continue running. Take it or leave it."

They heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He needed her answer now.

"I'll take it," she whispered.

They went through the day like they normally did. When nighttime arrived, Roman chose to go upstairs with Novella just as Seth brought out his punch. They went to the bedroom and she straddled him. It was the first time she took the lead and he quite liked it.

"What's your favorite dessert?" She asked.
"You really wanna talk about cake right?" He chuckled.
"You're not getting laid until you answer," she said.
"You know I can just throw you around and fuck you senseless, right?" He asked.
"Where's the fun in that?" She asked.

She pouted at him and he couldn't help but laugh at how cute she looked. This was another step in the right direction. He liked that she initiated things for once.

"Blueberry pie with whipped cream," he said.
"Can I make that for you tomorrow?" She asked.
"I would love that," he answered. "What have I done to deserve that?"
"You make me feel special," she said.
"You are special, baby girl," he said.

He pulled her down for a kiss and ran his hands down to grab her ass.

"How special?" She asked.
"I've never met anyone like you. I've never felt this way before. That special," he said.

She raised her head enough to look at him. Those eyes sucked him right in like always. He felt hypnotized when she looked at him like that.

"Do you trust me?" She asked.
"What are you thinking?" He smirked.
"How much control are you be willing to give up?" She asked.
"You wanna tie me down?" He asked.
"If you dare," she answered.
"If I dare?" He laughed. "You don't scare me."

She smirked at him. Clearly she meant it.

"Alright, I'll give it a go. I know you're not stupid enough to try anything. There's handcuffs in the drawer over there," he said.

He pointed to the drawer he had taken the lube from last night. She walked over there and pulled out two sets of handcuffs. She walked back to him and chained him up with his arms spread towards the bed poles. He yanked at them but couldn't get free.

"You always say I'm yours," she said. "Guess you're mine now."
"I was yours the second you laid eyes on me," he said. "Give me your worst, baby girl."

She leaned down and kissed him. She moved her hand under her pillow and closed her hand around the shaft of the kitchen knife he had brought into the room the first morning. He had thrown it behind him when they were standing by the window, and he had forgotten about it afterwards. That morning after the shower she had taken it and hid it, knowing she had to wait for the right moment. She sat up, grabbed the pillow, and placed it over his bottom half of his face so he couldn't scream.

"I was never yours!" She snarled.

She plunged the knife into his chest three times. The third time hit his heart and he stopped making noises. She pulled the knife out and looked down at herself. She ran to the bathroom, grabbed a towel, wetted it, and cleaned herself as much as she could. Hopefully the darkness would cover if there was any blood left.

She left the bathroom and walked down the stairs as quietly as she could. The house seemed eerily quiet. She knew Seth's plan had worked. She just couldn't leave it to chance that Roman ever came after her and found her. She walked to the front door and found it ajar. She opened it enough to slip outside and found Seth waiting there with a set of clothes in his hands. Next to him on the ground was her sneakers and purse.

"I found the clothes you arrived in," he said.

A sharp pain went through him. He dropped the clothes and looked down to see the knife slide back out of his stomach before she pushed it in again and twisted it around. He cried in pain. She pulled out the knife and he dropped to his knees. He tried covered the stab wounds with his hands but blood kept pouring out.

"You rape women, Seth. You hurt and torture people. You're just as bad as the rest of them," she said.

She plunged the knife into his throat and watch him fall down on his back. She picked up her clothes and put it on. She got into her sneakers and felt around in his pockets. She found a set of keys and his phone. She turned on the flashlight on the phone and ran to the shed. She tried the keys and found that the second one unlocked the shed. She stepped inside and stared in wonder at what they stored there.

"Holy shit!" She grinned. "Oh yeah, baby!"

She grabbed canisters of gasoline and walked inside to pour it in several rooms downstairs. Everyone was in their rooms drugged and deep asleep. She had some time. Finally satisfied with everything, she walked back to Seth. She grabbed his feet and used all her strength to pull him inside the house. She lit a match and threw it next to him. She watched the floor go up in flames right away. The fire spread fast.

She walked out of the house, picked up her purse, and started running. She kept running until she was out of breath. She took a couple of minutes to get her breathing and feelings under control, and then she continued walking forward.

She didn't have a plan. She just wanted to go home. Once home she would shower and cry, lock herself inside for days, and never tell anyone that she was in that house. She knew the town would wake up to the news of the entire gang having burned to death, and the town would rejoice. The police would probably claim it was an accident that took several lives. She would be off the hook for having freed the town from those assholes.

She could never tell anyone. In a bizarre way she would forever be locked up in that house in her mind. Locked up and free at the same time. It was something she would have to learn to live with one way or another.

"I got out," she said to herself. "I got the fuck out of there, and I'm not gonna let those assholes break me further."